I have a set of 17" Exel Radius' that I got for really cheap from a friend and they are wrapped in some basically new Nitto Tires that I also got for pretty cheap (I'm an ebay/craigslist *****). Problem is there are a few small dents on the polished lip of all but one of the rims. I've been looking/asking around and the cheapest I've been quoted to fix it is over $100 a wheel! I bought the whole set for $100! So fixing them at a place like that is out of the question. I got sick of them sitting in my basement so I put them on to take them for a test drive tonight and they are awesome. They don't vibrate at all and hug the road really well, they look good too untill you get really close to them where you can see a few of the bends. My questions are...

1) Is there any possible way for me to fix these wheels??? I don't care if I have to sacrafice my polished lip...
2) Should I just abandon hope and sell the whole set for around 4-500 bucks and buy a new set?
3) Should I take off the tires and sell the wheels to buy a new set to put the tires on?
4) Should I just keep them on untill the tires are dead then sell the set?

I realise I'm an idiot for putting the tires on before fixing the wheels...[sm=badidea.gif]

 

if you think you could make 5 times what you paid for them then why not just flip em? i'd flip anything i had if i could make 4-5 times the amount for it! haha...they look like a nice set though, too bad their banged up...

 

Lol, nah, in total I only paid around $350 for the whole set. But brand new Nitto NeoGen's are worth more then that, plus brand new Radius' are worth over $500. 4-500 is a hopefull estimate of how much I could get for them... anyway, I REALLY want to keep them on... I just need to fix them somehow... please guys, give me some input on this, someone out there must have fixed a bent lip before...

 

sell and buy a new set

 

Have the tires dismounted. believe it or not, lay the wheel face down on a NEW piece of carboard box cut up. It needs to protect the entire wheel. Grab a 2x4 and a 5lb. hammer.Lay the wood ON the bend and carefully whack it. You can also use a LARGE monkey wrench. (cresent wrench) and a leather glove. Pick a part of the glove thats NOT covered with concrete. Size the gap in the wrench to fit snug over the wheel lip AND the glove. The glove is to protect the face of the wheel. You need to be carefull here. Work from the outter part of the "bend" towards the middle, from bothe sides. You your muskels to manipulate the aluminum, it bends real easy.

 

get some GOOD metal polish and clean em up real good.... they will look great. (better than they do now!)

 

Awesome, thanks for the advise! But how do I whack the 2x4 on the bend if the wheel is face down??? And what do you mean about the leather glove "concrete"?

 

hmmm.....I like the leather glove method.....I think that'd work better than the mallet method...try it, you've got nothing but dents to loose...

 

I'm not sure of exactly what he's trying to suggest I do though... I mean, do I lay the wheel down face up so that I can put the leather over the dent then hit it with the wrench? That's what it sounded like... but first he said lay the wheel face down...?

 

Read again young grass hopper.....
The "lay the wheel down" and whack it, and the leather glove, and wrench, are 2 different methods of backyard repair.
The glove is a pad between the wrench you use as a "prying tool" and the polished surface of your wheel. You need at least a 12 inch cresent wrench. (bigger IS better) spread out the jaws of the wrench, put the glove in the jaws, slip it over the edge (bead) of the wheel and snug it up. The reason you don't want any concrete on the glove is, you'll mar the wheel with the gravel and dry concrete off of the glove.
The wheel laying face down is a tad bit more primative. The 2x4 lays on the bead edge of the wheel (where the tire bead meets the wheel) You whack the 2x4 with the 5lb. hammer pounder!
BOTH of these methods work well, and as Roto said... you got nothin to loose but dent's